🚀 go-pugleaf

According to some news reports, the decision to abort the world
chess championship was made by the Soviet regime. It was announced
officially by the soviet news agency Tass two hours BEFORE it was
accepted by the president of the International Chess Federation,
who has been called and flown to Moscow from his country -the
Philippines- a couple days before the announcement of 
the decision.!!
Also, it seems that both contenders - Karpov and Kasparov - were
not very warm to stop the game; they actually wanted to keep
on playing.
The reason why the soviets are trying to "fix" the championship is
that a Kasparov victory will upset and uproot a bunch of soviet
"chess lords" in the USSR, who have grown under Karpov's shade.
Remember that chess in Russia is much more than a popular game:
it is a whole institution with its bureaucracy, its vested
interests and its ties to the political establishment.
The fact that Kasparov's father is jewish is probably not the main
reason why they are trying to tame his challenge to Karpov.